Broken pieces can't always be repaired
by brittanyforeverandalways
Summary: Stefan on human blood hurts Elena. Where Damon when you need him? NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

"Stefan? Damon? Anyone here?" Elena wandered lost through the boarding house searching for a sign that somebody was at home, but came up short. Empty. _Damn vampires_. She casually ascended the staircase to explore the upstairs. To her right was Damon's room, _it can't hurt to check_, she thought. Pushing at the great oak door to reveal the splendour of Damon's impressively designed bedroom. Something was different though, its' usual Damon-like scent wasn't there, it was something different but familiar.

She progress farther into the chamber too expose a blood covered Stefan feasting on a large pile of emptied blood bags. Red was pooled over the varnished panelling and the draw contents from under the bed were strewn across it. Careful steps towards him she spoke, "Stefan?"

His head snapped up to meet her. His eyes were blank, no life, no mercy, no humanity.


	2. Chapter 2

"Elena" he growled, stalking towards her. She turned to run out the door but he was too fast and had slammed it before she got close. "Come on, Elena. You know you don't really want to go anywhere."

Backing up slowly, she said, "Stefan, please, his isn't you."

"Of course it is Elena. I finally feel good again. Wait- you came in here without knowing I was here? That means you were looking for- Damon" he snarled.

"No, it's not what you think!" before she could register anything, he had her by the hair and was dragging her into the bath room.

"You look just like her. Same slut, same skin, same eyes, same everything. Same body," he whispered. Pulling her in front of the overly large sink and mirror and grabbed up the scissors from the table.

"I could never hurt her, but you. It just be like revenge except a human version." Whimpering, she was forced to watch as he opened the scissors and gouged an S into her cheek's once perfect olive skin. She shrieked as the blade was repetitively in different directions and on different parts of her face. Half way through the torture she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the world. Mutilations, bites and blood later, Elena was left sagged on the tiles watching Stefan disappear from the room and the bang of the front door close. Silence.

She lay there for what felt like an eternity. Damon wouldn't be home until the evening, and by then it would be too late. Heaving herself off of the floor she quivered as she peered at her destroyed face and torn apart body, blood trickling from all different parts of her. She was beginning to feel tired, and managed to haul herself over to Damon's bed, where she crawled into the fatal position and passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

_Heavy, so tired, hurts_. Elena was semi-conscious now and rolled herself off of the comfort of Damon's bed. She clawed her way across the floor, smearing scarlet everywhere. Lakes of blood cover the floor and furniture where she'd put up a fight. _Please God, help me. I have to get out of here, but everything hurts so much_. Tears pricked her eyes and then there was no stopping them, but she carried on going. Once out of the door she pulled herself up to be supported by the banister and just leant there for a minute. Dozing off was a bad idea in her position at the top of the grand staircase, but she just couldn't help it, she was so exhausted.

"Hey Stef? You home- Elena?" Damon waltzed through the door not looking at the staircase until the smell hit him. His first instinct was that Stefan had brought food home, however then he thought of Elena. No sooner had he thought of her but he heard a gasp of pain and there she was. Gashes covering every inch of her skin, blood everywhere he looked. Before he could even contemplate the situation she was falling, no, crashing down the stairs, landing crumpled at his feet.

"Elena!" crouching to pick her up he gathered her in his arms and sped up to his room, where he stood in disgust. _What was going on? Who- blood bags- Stefan? He didn't care_. All that mattered was helping his love, who was lying unconsciously cradled in his arms.

The bathroom was plastered but that didn't matter. When it came to her he could stand any amount of blood and it wouldn't bother him a bit. He quickly ran a bath and began to remove the remains of her tattered clothing. For the first time he caught a look at her beautiful, mauled face. She had slashes all over her but the worst were the words. In big letters across her cheek read: SLUT, and in deep red words across her temple read: MINE. Bile began to rise in his throat but he held it back as he lowered her carefully into the bathtub. Her breathing was becoming inconsistent and unpredictable, and then it happened. "Elena? Elena! Wake up! You need to wake up!" she was breathing, not even a bit and he didn't know what to do. So he did the only thing he could and ripped into his wrist and attached it to her lips. She didn't respond straight away but gradually she started to swallow, but had not enough strength to hold it there.

Taking it away, he knew she was weak and wouldn't be able to wash herself so he gently sponged the wounds on her neck, arms and legs, and finally her face. He lifted her out of the bath and laid her on the sheets that he had quickly found and changed on the bed. She shivered and shook and cried in her sleep, until she awoke with a start, screaming. "DAMON!"

He was by her side in an instant rocking her back and forth, "it's alright, I've got you, and you're safe now."

"Please don't let him hurt me again, please Damon," she begged him in whimpered pleas. "Shh, shh, you need some more of my blood; you're not healed yet," biting into his wrist he offered it to the doe eyed Elena lying in his embrace. He pressed it slowly to her mouth and she drank willingly. Dizziness began to overcome her and she slumped back into Damon's warmth and fell into a dreamless sleep.

"He'll pay for this. I love you Elena" he murmured before, he himself fell asleep too.


	4. Chapter 4

The world began to come into focus as she woke up. Without opening her eyes, she could feel warmth around her body. She was trapped in a pair of vice-like arms and her breathing began to quicken. _No, let go, not again_! This was not happening. Not daring to open her eyes she started to squirm and struggle to try and get out of this monster's grasp. Grabbing for the edge of the bed she wiggled out of the grip and crumbled to the floor. She could feel someone scoop her back up onto the bed and she kicked out, hard. "Let me go! NO!" she shouted.

"Elena, stop, it's me! Damon."

"D…Damon," her eyes slipped open to see the ocean gazing back at her in worry. "Oh, Damon," she sighed, wrapping her frail arms around him and nuzzling into his neck. "I'm sorry, I thought- I thought he'd come back for me."

Putting his hands either side of her head he drew her closer to him and asked, "Elena, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I know it'll be difficult but I need to know."

"Well- I- I came here looking for you, I… I can't remember why though. When I got here I looked around but there was no one here, so I went upstairs and looked in your room to see if you were asleep or something. But when I got there I smelt something awful. I saw empty blood bags and blood everywhere, and then- him… Stefan. He growled at me, and I could tell exactly what was going on. I tried to run but he grabbed me and kept calling me a slut and said that because he could get revenge on Katherine herself, he'd get it on the next best thing… me." The rest of the story took a while to be explained, as Elena had to stop every so often to pull her back into reality and realise that it was over.

"Oh I'm so sorry princess. I should have been here," stroking her hair, soothing her.

"Ah! I hate this!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What? Elena what's the matter?"

"I can't remember, why can't I remember!"

"It's alright, it'll come back. You'll remember, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

6 months later. There was still no sign of Stefan. He hadn't been seen since Elena's attack. Damon was making her stay at the boarding house in the spare room, so that she wasn't alone in the house while Jeremy was in Denver. Stefan could come back whenever he wanted, and Damon was taking no risks with her safety.

Elena was wandering around Mystic Falls, after just visiting the cemetery and the grill. _I miss you Mum, Dad, Jenna_. As she made her way down the street, something caught her eye. The lake. Sunlight was bouncing off of it, causing it to shine like lapis lazuli._ Damon_. _His eyes, sparkling, diving deep into her soul. I love how his eyes make me melt- wait…I love…_ "him. I'm in love with Damon Salvatore." She spoke out loud and gasped at what she had said. _I remember_.

Light would have struggled to keep up with the speed she was running at. The boarding house was where her sights were set.

There it was, coming into view as her feet hit the gravel pathway, she was still desperately trying to catch her breath. Once reaching the door, she slammed through only to land flat on her face from moving too fast. She quickly pulled herself together and screamed as loud as possible, "DAMON!"

Then he was there, his arm circling her, checking she was okay. "Elena, what's wrong? Are you alright?" the concern was apparent, covering his face.

"I… I remember…" his face went from concerned to quizzical. "Are you going to tell me or just stand there hyperventilating for a while?" She couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say, and then he spoke instead.

"I know exactly what you came to say that day. You were going to tell me that you had to choose Stefan and that you and I… well, that you and I were never meant to be." With this, he turned to the door and left her there, panting. It had begun to rain and Damon had just carried on walking, even as it got harder and harder.

She didn't understand what had just gone on. _Why wouldn't he listen?_ Unable to bear the thought of not telling him, she ran. Out into the torrential down pour and up the driveway, "Damon! I love you!" She yelled, squinting to see if she could see him anywhere. All at once he was there, directly in front of her.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, Damon, since the very first time you saved my life, since the moment you challenge me, loved me like no other. Since the moment you looked at me with those soulful, beautiful, blue eyes of yours, I have been completely and irrevocably in love with you. I may have denied it for so long but I just can't anymore."

"What made you change your mind?"

"When I was walking through time the other day, I saw the lake and the sun was reflecting just the way your eyes do whenever you look at me," while speaking this, she tilted her head to the floor, allowing her drench hair to smudge across her face.

"Look at me Elena. Come on, look at me. Don't be afraid." He took hold of her chin to look up at him. As soon as their eyes connected, that was it. She was awe struck, couldn't move from the spot until… his lips came crashing down on hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he picked her and span her. Instinctively her legs tightly flew around his waist as he sped them into the house. Their mouths were dancing as were their hands as they bashed into wall after wall.


	6. Chapter 6

Bright, sunlight streamed through the window, to reveal a peacefully sleeping couple, snuggled in up tightly in the huge bed, in the middle of Damon's room. Damon and Elena clung to each other in their sleep as if they half expected the other to disappear. The once nightmare filled sleep, which Elena used to have was replaced with only happy moments, starring Damon and herself. Damon's subconscious was reminiscing of the previous events and enjoying it the more he played it over.

Life began to seep back into the two of them, causing Damon to roll slightly to face her, though not open his eyes. Elena, however, was awake now and couldn't help but gaze at the blue eyed angel holding her. "I love you," she whispered, kissing his cheek. He couldn't help himself, so he replied, "if I wake to that everyday I'm not going to complain, though a kiss? Is that the best you could do?" his daunting eyes, peered back at her, winking.

"Well aren't we just so funny? Seriously, you should be a comedian," she smirked.

"Now that you mention it, I did a bit of comedy back in the day. Had the ladies smarming," another wink, before she quickly hit him in the face with her pillow.

"Oh, you didn't just do that," he smiled deviously, creeping over the bed towards her.

"Eep! Actually- I think I just did, what exactly are you going to do about it?" immediately she bolted, teasingly, from the bed, out of the door, wearing only her underwear.

He sat smiling for a moment, wondering how on earth this had happened in the space of a few hours. One minute, she was his friend and would never admit that he meant anything more and now- SCREAM!

Elena's shriek, ricocheted, through the entirety of the house, rapidly meeting Damon's, fast reacting ears.

As quick as a flash he was at the bottom of the stairs staring at Elena's back. He didn't understand, until, she dropped to her knees clutching her stomach and then to the floor. A knife, was stuck in her stomach. "Elena," he breathed before rushing to her. But before he got there, he was intercepted and smashed into a wall. "Can't let you do that brother," a voice from the shadows spoke. "You see, she needs to die. She's just another version of the other bitch, who's going to rip us to pieces, given half the chance." Damon could take it no longer and rushed his brother through the house and out of a window, where he picked up part of a wooden fence and staked him. "I'm sorry brother it's for your own good. I can't let you hurt Elena. ELENA!"

On the drawing room floor, lay Elena, lifeless and bleeding. Nothing he did would staunch the blood flow, so he knew there was only one thing he could do. "Please Elena. Give me a sign, will you hate me forever, if I do this."

"D…mon, lo…v…e y…ou f…ev…er" with this he ripped, savagely into his wrist and let it flow deeply into Elena's partially open mouth. Once enough blood had entered her system, he could hear her heart begin to falter, and then finally, there was nothing.

2 years later

Damon spent time teaching Elena the ins and outs of being a vampire and, of course, Caroline, willingly helped. The two had never been happier. Every minute they spent with each other, they were inseparable. It had been 2 years and it was coming up to Elena's 24th birthday.

Caroline had organised a surprise party at the boarding house, where everyone had gathered, awaiting Damon to bring Elena home. He had spent months getting Bonnie to take Elena out for lunch and distracting her, so that he could take Caroline to town.

Elena wasn't the suspicious type but she knew something wasn't right. Bonnie had been distracting her purposely and she wanted to know why. As she and Damon pulled up into the driveway, she looked up at the dark, gloomy boarding house and sighed. She was so in her own world that when Damon took her hand and opened the door, she jumped half out of her skin when the lights flew on and nearly one hundred people, yelled SURPRISE! Tears welled up in her, big brown eyes, until they came to rest on Damon. There he was, kneeling in front of her on one knee, with a square-cut, lapis lazuli and diamond ring in his hand. She took a huge unnecessary breath and began to cry harder. After giving her a moment to adjust, he spoke,

"Elena Gilbert, since the moment I came to this town, I knew there was something about you. Your heart is good, even to those who you do not know, it is pure and kind. You are selfless and stupid and incredibly insane. But all this considered, you saw the light in me when we all thought there was none, you loved me though I have done so much to make you hate me. I've done unforgivable things, and yet here you still are, with me. Nothing in my life would mean anything if I didn't have you. You have changed my life around, without you I'd be lost. I don't ask for much, but I do ask this… will you do me the undeniably, life altering, honour, of marrying me. My princess, my everything, marry me?" Gasps escaped from different directions but Damon and Elena didn't notice. They were far too lost in each other's eyes to care. One minute, they were staring at the other, the next the ring was on her finger and was in his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, listening to the cheers forming around them.

Nothing would break them apart again, of that everyone was certain.


End file.
